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Brembo brake Upgrade questions

2K views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  carlspeed 
#1 ·
Im planning to upgrade my 13 GT standard brakes to the GT500 Brembo package which includes 6 piston front with 15" vented rotors and 13.8 " single piston rears. Runs about $1900 on AM. What Im curious about is the front only Brembo packages are offered at even higher prices with lower diameter rotors, albet cross drilled and I'm wondering why. Also, I've read cross-drilled tend to crack more than simple vented and interested to hear opinions on this. I run about a half dozen road course track days per year and hope these will hold up. Figured i'd use the Ford pads supplied (use hawk today) but would like to hear opinions from anyone who has used them before i I have them installed, regret it and then have to get the rotors cut and add the Hawks. All comments from anybody with direct experience or knowledge on this subject would be appreciated.
 
#2 ·
The GT500 kit looks like a great kit and it's more than likely what I am going to go with. The more expensive brembo kits have floating rotors. The rotors themselves are not directly attached to the rotor hat of the disc assembly. They are held in place by little sliders that allow them to float. This allows the rotor itself to expand and contract without being essentially pinned down by the friction force between the hub and wheel. This lowers the probability of warping your discs and lowers heat transfer from the discs to the rim or hub assembly itself. This is great for a true race car or strictly track car but for an everyday driver or weekend racer it would be totally unnecessary. This set up can be seen on sport bikes. Cross drilled rotors are great because they allow the rotor to heat up and cool down at a quick rate and allow the gases the form from the heating of the brake pad to escape the mating surfaces so you have actual pad to rotor contact rather than pad, small layer of gas, and rotor contact. Same idea goes for slotted rotors. Cross drilled rotors do have a tendency to crack under extreme circumstances but the simplest way to put it is because there is less material in the rotor itsel. The thing about drilled and/or slotted rotors is that some places will not machine them when it comes time to do a full brake job and then you're stuck replacing a whole rotor rather than having it machined. Also keep in mind that crossdrilled and/or slotted rotors will cause more brake dust and shorter pad life.
A vented rotor is two solid rotors together with an airgap in between that allows air to flow between them and keep the rotor cool. Personally I think you would be just fine with the GT500 kit and some hawk pads, and dot 4 fluid on your race days. And to be totally honest, the Ford Racing 4 piston kit would also be just fine for the amount of track days you are planning on doing with some race grade pads and dot 4 fluid and upgrade the rotors to slotted. Hope this helps.
 
#3 ·
Excellent advice (and education). I will look into the Ford 4 piston also before I pull the trigger in the spring ( live in NH). Have you had experience with the DOT4? I definitely plan on that or even the $$$ Casrol but curious about life, etc. Yhoughts?
 
#5 ·
I haven't personally used DOT 4 but believe it or not I have used what would be a DOT 5 or 6 equivalent. Dot 4 has a higher boing point than 4 and will be more resistant to brake fade and a squishy pedal. Problem is that it absorbs a lot more moisture out of the air than 3 so it has a shorter life span. When I was using dot 5 and 6 it was a fluid for racing applications only and it was being changed every 2 weeks. So honestly I don't really know what to tell you to do there except race with the 3 and if you have a bad experience then try 4 on the track but keep in mind you may be bleeding brakes a lot more often.
Just here to help. In college I studied Mechanical engineering and designed an entire braking system for a race car. Everything from rotor and caliper sizes to matching master cylinder sizes front and rear and actually machining and building the parts. Hell I even studies why the holes in a drilled rotor look so random. Turns out they aren't. I used Parts and resources from Tilton, Wilwood, and Brembo just to name a few. I'm not trying to brag if I come across that way, just wanted to show that I do know a little bit of what I'm talking about. However it would be awesome if someone with actual track time in a mustang and had some experience with these brake setups would throw in their $0.02.
 
#6 ·
Well I defintely get brake fade after they heat up so I need to change up to something with a higher boiling point. The CastrolSRF claims to absorb less moisture than most and was recommended by a fellow warrior who used it inhis Z06 regularly. I never asked if had to changed it often or bleed them a lot. Others say they just use DOT 4 but again, I didn't know enough to question further at the tim. Live and Learn...the key being the live part hence all the questions.
 
#7 ·
From what i've heard you would be alright with the stock calipers and some nice hawk track pads with just dot 4. That would be another option to go. If it works then awesome you just saved over 1k. If not then go a head and upgrade. You're right live and learn. Just try to learn from other peoples mistakes rather than making too many of your own haha.
 
#9 ·
Upgrade brakes for trackdays

Last summer I took my "12" GT 5.0 to Road Atlanta for HPDE with NASA. I up graded my brake pads to Hawk HP Plus, front and rear. I also replaced my brake fluid with ATE Amber, DOT4 ( You can also use ATE Super Blue, there the same thing.) I never had any overheating or brake fade all day Sat. or Sun. I still have the same pads and fluid now, and the pads are still good, and I plan to use the same setup at Barber in Feb.
 
#10 ·
I considered the HPS+ but most of the comments I read mention they are noisy. Is this a daily driver or weekend car?

---------- Post added at 08:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:32 AM ----------

have you ever had to bleed the brakes? i'm wondering if most of the complaints about absorbing water come from the south?
 
#12 · (Edited)
I have a suspicion that you are feeling something different than what you think. I, only one time, have experienced brake fade in my car. I did about 15 high speed autox runs in a row, with no rest between. Each one of these included 2 90-30mph stops. I ended up boiling the fluid in the brembos. The car is a garage queen, and only has about 8,500 miles on it. I had not bled the brakes since I bought it at 4 miles, and it's about two years old. Side note, I was also running race slicks.

So, let's just say the factory brembos aren't bad, and unless you are on an actual race track, you're probably going to be fine. Even then, just don't let your fluid sit for more than a year or so. :thumb:

Sidenote: to back on what Bill said, ATE is great fluid. The blue is a bit more expensive now since the EPA or whatever decided they should dictate what color fluid is, but the type (typ) 200 is the same, albeit a regular amber/clear color. FWIW, I've used blue in all the performance stuff I've had for the last few years, and have never had an issue. Since I am doing this car now, I ordered the amber from BAS for about $35 shipped for two liters. It's only slightly lower of a boiling point than SRF, and about 25% of the price. YMMV.
 
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